Shu Cole, PhD
Professor, Department of Health and Wellness Design
Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington
Phone: 812-855-9037
Email: colest@iu.edu
Indiana University
Richard Holden, PhD
Department Chair,Dean's Eminent Scholar, Professor, Department of Health & Wellness Design
Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington
Phone: 812-856-6265
Email: rjholden@iu.edu
Siyun Peng, PhD
Assistant Research Science of Sociology
Dubravka Svetina Valdivia, PhD
Associate Professor in the School of Education
Grace Kestler
Grace joins us from her role as Executive Director of the Arc of Bartholomew County and as the City Councilor of Columbus, Indiana. She brings valuable administrative experience as well as personal insights as a wheelchair user and traveler. She will be involved in all aspects of the project and oversee the collaboration among team members.
Ruiping Pen
Ruiping Ren is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Health and Wellness Design at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington. She will assist with the literature review and data collection for this project.
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
Dr. Allen Heinenmann, PhD
Director, Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research
Professor, Department of PM&R, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern
Dr. Jacqueline Kish, PhD, OTR/L
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Sharon Parmet, MA
Healthcare Communications Associate
Open Doors Organization
Consultant
Prof. Simon Darcy is a world-renowned scholar on accessible travel, transport and tourism having conceptualised "accessible tourism" with academic and industry collaborators. Living with a high-level Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and using a power chair since 1983, Prof. Darcy uses a research evidence base to improve the participation of people with disability in all areas of citizenship. As a Professor in Management at the UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney he specializes in developing inclusive organizational approaches for people with disability and other marginalized groups. Prof. Darcy has collaborated with the PI's team on accessible tourism services, including several studies on airports, airlines and will consult on all aspects of the project, from scoping literature reviews, research design and through his expertise as a mixed method qualitative and quantitative researcher. He will bring his expertise on codesign and design thinking to contribute to the development of aviation employee training through having people with disability involved in delivering the training.
Advisory Members
Sara Barsel specializes in making passenger air transport dementia friendly. Ms. Barsel's work on dementia-friendly airports is crucial given the increasing proportion of older adults with cognitive impairments. Her expertise will be invaluable in examining barriers for older adults in air travel.
Colleen Durkin-Blackburn is the Senior Program Manager of Accessibility at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, bringing expertise as a certified ADA Inspector, Coordinator, and Trainer.
Katie Harmon, a recreation therapist at Shepherd Center, has extensive experience assisting new patients with SCI in flying home after discharge from rehabilitation. She also offers insights as a care partner, as her husband lives with SCI, and they travel extensively.
Eddie Harris, has 36 years of experience in the airline industry where he has held leadership positions from entry-level management to Vice President, providing services to airlines and airports nationwide. His career has been dedicated to serving passengers with disabilities, developing technology focused on Special Services Request (SSR), and ensured compliance with U.S. DOT 14 CFR part 382 regulations.
Steve Mayers served as assistant director of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, leading initiatives on air travel accessibility. As CEO of his company Aviation Innovation Management (AIM), he continues to focus on aviation accessibility compliance.
Ray Prentice is a veteran of the aviation industry and staunch advocates for accessible air travel for PwD. Mr. Prentice recently retired from Alaska Airlines, where he investigated and addressed disability-related guest complaints and served as the airline's liaison with DOT's Aviation Consumer Protection.
Dr. Rupa Valdez, Professor of Systems and Information Engineering and Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia, focuses on research conducted in collaboration with the disability community. As a person with a physical disability herself, she brings rich experience in air travel. Dr. Valdez also co-founded the Blue-Trunk Foundation, aiming to enhance travel accessibility for people with disabilities.